I've been diving a housing for a few weeks. We are awaiting a few more finishing touches before offering this in the US, but I expect it will be ready in a week or two.

You are correct, AF-ON isn't offered. This is mitigated by the ability to switch the function of the AF-ON and Star Buttons in the custom menu, and the banks of custom settings to automate this.

I dived the setup in Bonaire w/ 5" arms mounted to each of these base adapters, and a focus light in the cold shoe. This was actually a really sweet setup for macro shooting, and was very light in the water. Somewhat reminiscent of the midsize digicams of years past.

Ports are a work in progress. They'll be delrin to save weight, and initially a dome, 60mm Macro Port, and 100mm Macro port are available, with more accessories on the way. Port converters are also available for Subal, Sea & Sea, Nexus, and Inon. Aquatica is being done as well, but isn't finished yet.

I've been diving a housing for a few weeks. We are awaiting a few more finishing touches before offering this in the US, but I expect it will be ready in a week or two.

You are correct, AF-ON isn't offered. This is mitigated by the ability to switch the function of the AF-ON and Star Buttons in the custom menu, and the banks of custom settings to automate this.

I dived the setup in Bonaire w/ 5" arms mounted to each of these base adapters, and a focus light in the cold shoe. This was actually a really sweet setup for macro shooting, and was very light in the water. Somewhat reminiscent of the midsize digicams of years past.

Ports are a work in progress. They'll be delrin to save weight, and initially a dome, 60mm Macro Port, and 100mm Macro port are available, with more accessories on the way. Port converters are also available for Subal, Sea & Sea, Nexus, and Inon. Aquatica is being done as well, but isn't finished yet.

Considering that I ordered a 40D this morning, this is exciting news. Have they gotten it down below 12 pounds yet? Just sent you a note via the webform on your site . . .

Way to go Mike - you bought a new camera!!!! Is your 10D sitting on the shelf pouting yet :-)

The housing looks smashing - great news. I'm glad Seatool is increasing their housing lineup to include the 40D

CheersJames

The 10Ds aren't sure what to think. Part of me is thinking I should keep at least one and the housing just in case. I could probably get $300 a piece or so for them on eBay, but I fear the housing may be worth little or nothing. Hard to part with the 10Ds as they've been great cameras for several years. Yes, the Seatool housing does look nice. I had a chance to play briefly with Ryan's prototype in Bonaire and it was pretty cool, though it was a bit heavy and needed some ergonomic work, as Ryan alluded to in his post. Hopefully he's set them straight and there will be a "real" housing soon. I think Ryan is in a rush to get the 40D one final so he can move on to getting them started on housing his D300! The S&S housing is also an option, though I like the fact that the Seatool is built with fiber optic strobe connections in mind.

Still need to get the final word on how much the S&S port adapter adds to the overall length. I think that when I was in the shop in November, Ryan said it wasn't as much as he first thought . . .

Interesting comment on the weight. 12lbs? Is that total with camera and ports?

Sorry, that was one of my (typically) lame attempts at humour. It did seem heavy to me when I handled it but I really have no way of verifying the actual weight. And it did have the camera in it and a flat port on it. Ryan said they still hadn't worked the wall thicknesses down to their final values yet so I would expect the final version to be somewhat lighter than the prototype.

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Posted 11 January 2008 - 06:28 PM

Looks like Backscatter will install the viewfinders on the Sea & Sea if you want to go that way. The S&S site has the manual for the 40d housing up on line if you want to take a look at some details. (Service area) First S&S housings have started to hit the US this week.

Looks like Backscatter will install the viewfinders on the Sea & Sea if you want to go that way. The S&S site has the manual for the 40d housing up on line if you want to take a look at some details. (Service area) First S&S housings have started to hit the US this week.

Steve

got a link Steve on that 40D manual. I can't seem to find it either the US or Japan S&S site.

I visited BOOT (www.boot.de) today and visited Hugyfot, Subal, Ikelite, Sealux (no 40D50/D housing) and Sea&Sea. After fitting, testing ergonomy and size the game was between Sea&Sea and Seatool... since I already have a YS27DX flash (fiber connection only, no cash for a TTL flash at the moment) and the shop owner gave me a pretty good deal I went for the Seatool 40D housing with flatport

The price difference between the 40D and 50D housing was enough to add a 45 degree Inon Viewfinder

The Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 also fits behind the port for the 60mm macro.. So util I have a decent wide-angle/FE with dome I can use the Tamron at 17mm.